Rumor: AT&T to Sell iPhones with No Contract March 26
3:09 pm, March 18th, 2009, Lonnie Lazar
AT&T is set to begin offering existing customers iPhone 3G on March 26 without requiring on-site activation or the 2 year service contract new and upgrade customers must agree to in order to buy a phone at reduced pricing, according to a report at Boy Genius.
Claiming to be based on internal AT&T training slides describing the new policies, the report indicates existing AT&T customers will be able to purchase a limit of one device per phone line at $599 (8GB) and $699 (16GB) without committing to the usual 2 year contract required of new customers wishing to purchase an iPhone.
New AT&T customers will still be required to sign a 2 year service contract in order to activate iPhones on the AT&T network and all phones activated for AT&T service will still be required to carry an iPhone data plan.
Posted by Lonnie Lazar in News, Rumors, iPhone 3G | Comment on this article
You’re the first one I’ve read that says these will be unlocked. I’ve seen no indication of that anywhere else. The only thing I’ve seen is that you can now purchase one without committing to a two year contract. These are still carrier locked to ATT as far as I can tell.
Do you have additional information?
Phil, on March 18th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
OK – but no where in the story does it say it will be unlocked.
Morgan Nelson, on March 18th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
that is so awesome in so many levels
BuffaloBillsHotel&Casino, on March 18th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Looks like a move to shift existing stock before the summer….
Still pretty pricy though
Mark, on March 19th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
@phil, @morgan: I used the word unlcked in the original headline because AT&T will no require these phones to be activated on-site. Theoretically, they could be purchased from AT&T, taken home and jailbroken and never end up being activated to AT&T service. However, in the strict sense of being sol “unlocked,” you are correct, and so I removed the word from the headline after considering your comments.
Lonnie Lazar, on March 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 pm